Exhibit: Make in Italy – 50 years of Italian inventions

from P101 to the first space bound espresso machine

Italian Cultural Institute in New York
686 Park Avenue, New York NY 10065

November 13 – November 25

10:00am – 4:00pm

Dates available for school visits: November 13, 16, 17, 23, 25

Free admission.

Few people know that Italians excel not only in the fields of art, fashion, and food, but also in technology. The exhibition tells the stories of exemplary Italians, shows their role in the digital revolution from the ‘60s on, and stimulates discussion about the future.

Students will learn the story of Programma 101 (P101), “The first desktop computer in the world”, made by the Italian company Olivetti and launched in New York in October 1965; and the story of the Italian Federico Faggin, who in 1971 created the first microprocessor in the world while working with Intel in Silicon Valley. They will also learn that in 2005 in Ivrea Massimo Banzi developed Arduino, the open source hardware and software platform which makers from all over the world are now using to revolutionize manufacturing; and that this year in May the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti could sip Lavazza espresso coffee in the space thanks to an experimental machine made by the Italian aerospace company Astrotec.

The visit could last two hours, and students will have the chance to see the original P101, Intel 4004, Arduino, Argotec-Lavazza machine and a new 3d printer by Olivetti. Also, they will watch a documentary about the making of P101 and will engage in a discussion with the curator of the exhibition, Maria Teresa Cometto, a journalist specializing in technology and co-author of the book “Tech and the City” about technology startups in New York.

Here you can find more information about the stories told in the exhibition, which had two previous installations in Rome (at the 2014 Maker Faire) and in Milan (this year):